There is a Louisiana statute which prohibits state agencies from agreeing
to any provision in a contract which requires interpretation of the
agreement according to the laws of another jurisdiction.  I am aware of
other states which have similar laws, and we are usually able to resolve
this issue when negotiating subawards with other public universities by
agreeing to be silent on the choice of law.

However, sponsors (usually commercial) will occasionally argue that
universities in states other than Louisiana readily agree to be bound by
the laws of another jurisdiction and consequently we are unreasonable in
our position.  I would like to conduct a survey on the choice of law
provisions in other states.  If you will share the information with me, I
will compile a list of states which have a statutory choice of law
requirement and post it to RESADM-L at a later date.  A list of states
which have choice of law provisions would prove useful when this issue
arises during contract negotiations.

Jim
________________________________________
James L. Bates
Director, Office of Sponsored Programs
330 Thomas Boyd Hall
Louisiana State University and A&M College
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
Phone: (225)578-3386
Fax: (225)578-5403
e-mail: xxxxxx@lsu.edu

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